Converting from a CH 13 to CH 7

[ohio84]

I have been reading through the post and still have some questions.

My situation is that my husband and I purchased our first home in June 2005. Our daughter was born in November 2005 with health problems and we made the decision for my husband to quit his job and stay home. In the midst of medical bills, doctor vists, maternity leave, etc. We became behind in paying our bills. In November 2006 we filed CH 13 to save our house and cars.

We are barely getting by again. I knew that our payment was going to be too high, but I didn't want to give up our house. I have finely realized that we cannot afford it on my income only. We contacted our attorney and he said we can file a CH 7 and be able to keep 1 vehicle.

My questions are will we have a problem renting? Our attorney said we would have about 3 months before we would have to move, does this sound right?? Also, does our debt up to this point get discharged or just from when we orginally filed? Lastly, the balance that the trustee has (about $4,000) will that be returned to us or sent to our creditors??

Thank you in advance.

[helpless]

I have a friend that did a ch7 and gave up the house in Ohio. It has been 10 months since he made his last payment and got served 3 weeks ago to start the foreclosure proceedings and still probably has a good two months left in the house. It take a long time to foreclose in Ohio.

[lrprn]

As hard as it is, you made the right decision to let the home go. Keeping an asset that you can't afford is a sure way to find yourself in financial trouble again quickly.

My questions are will we have a problem renting?

Some landlords are skittish about renting to anyone who has filed bk. Luckily though, other landlords understand and are willing to give you a chance, especially since you tried your best to repay your creditors. Just be upfront about the bk, and you'll have better luck if you stay away from the bigger, corporate-owned complexes and look for privately owned properties to rent.

Our attorney said we would have about 3 months before we would have to move, does this sound right??

Assuming from your name you are in Ohio, here's the scoop on foreclosure in Ohio - http://www.realtytrac.com/foreclosur...?strState=Ohio . Looks like the typical foreclosure timeline from start to finish is around five months (150 days).

Also, does our debt up to this point get discharged or just from when we orginally filed? Lastly, the balance that the trustee has (about $4,000) will that be returned to us or sent to our creditors??

When you convert your case, it's my understanding that whatever eligible debts that are listed on your Ch 13 plus any new eligible debts since you filed Ch 13 can be included. Be sure to check with your lawyer about this.

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

I don't own a house, but when I converted from Ch13 to Ch7 I had only made 3 payments into the plan. The Trustee hadn't gotten to distributing any payments to any of the creditors, so he sent me my money back within a month of the conversion and kept a cut for himself!

Best of Luck, Catchmeifyoucan